Folyosó’s Fifth International Contest, Autumn 2024
In the autumn of 2024, Folyosó held a contest with an animal theme: “Write a piece (a poem, story, dialogue, essay, letter or other written work) that has to do with one of these animals: bird, cat, bear, fish, horse. It may involve more than one kind of animal, but please be sure to indicate the main animal in the subject line. The piece may be about the animal, evoke the animal, or speak from the animal’s perspective. ”
The jury consisted of Varga Katalin Gimnázium faculty members Anikó Bánhegyesi, Judit Kassainé Mrena, and Diana Senechal. After careful consideration, we selected overall winners as well as winners within each animal category. We received many excellent entries from students of the Varga Katalin Gimnázium in Szolnok, the Árpád Vezér Gimnázium in Sárospatak, and the Lycée Sainte Pulchérie in Istanbul; all of the contest entries (winners and non-winners) will be published in the autumn issue of Folyosó, along with other accepted submissions.
Overall Winners
First Place: Selin Sıldıryan (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul), “Reflection”
Second Place: Elif Yavuz (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul), “And the Flesh Ached for the Sea”
Third Place: Zalán Kaposvári (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), “A Letter …. from the Horse to the Farmer!”
Bear Category
First Place: Selin Sıldıryan (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul), “Reflection”
Second Place: Márk Gál (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), “Everything You Need to Know About the Bear”
Third Place: Nil İrigül (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul), “Respecting the Feared”
Bird Category
First Place: Mert Özbek (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul), “Aves”
Second Place: Eszter Forvith (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), “Urban Dove”
Third Place: Viktória Botka (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), “The Lonely Penguin”
Cat Category
First Place: Derin Güntekin (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul), “Street Cat Konstantin”
Second Place: Jázmin Juhász (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), “Jackpot”
Third Place: Márk Kovács (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), “The Persian Cat”
Fish Category
First Place: Elif Yavuz (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul), “And the Flesh Ached for the Sea”
Second Place: Áron Kaposvári (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), “The Life of the Fish from Beginning to End”
Third Place: Fanni Farkas (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), “The Golden Fish”
Honorable Mention: Luca Türk (Árpád Vezér Gimnázium, Sárospatak), “Eighty-One Days with Marine ‘Beasts'”
Horse Category
(For this category, we received two eligible entries and selected one winner.)
First Place: Zalán Kaposvári (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), “A Letter …. from the Horse to the Farmer!”
Special Honor
Dominik Nemcsok, “Sour Bear Dream”
I (the editor) inadvertently left Dominik Nemcsok’s wonderful piece out of the contest. The special honor is intended to give it some of the recognition it deserves.
We also received two pieces that seemed to be intended for a “dog” category, which was not one of the listed categories in the contest. They will both be published as regular Folyosó submissions.
Congratulations to all! We are pleased to have such a rich selection of pieces to publish in the Autumn 2024 issue of Folyosó, which will appear by the end of November.
Folyosó’s Fourth International Contest, Autumn 2023
In 2023 there were two contest themes: freedom and mistakes! Congratulations to all the winners and honorees, and many thanks to Varga teachers Krisztina Csatlós and Anikó Bánhegyesi, who served on the jury along with Diana Senechal for the Freedom contest. (Diana Senechal was the sole judge for the Mistakes contest.) All of the pieces listed below—and much more—will appear in the Autumn 2023 issue of Folyosó, to be released later in November.
Theme 1: Freedom
Write a story, poem, essay, dialogue, letter, or other work that explores the nature of freedom: its complexities, simplicities, possibilities, impossibilities, and more.
- Folyosó Award: Szymon Kochański (3 Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Agnieszki Osieckiej w Sopocie, Sopot, Poland), “The Power of the Word – The Weakness of Will”
(This is a special award for a work of exceptional substance, merit, and originality.)
- First Place: Nil İrigül (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul, Turkey), “What My Father Taught Me”
- Second Place: Eszter Forvith (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok, Hungary), “Tom”
Third Place: Fatma Irmak Tuncel (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul, Turkey), “The Ballad of the Moon” - Fourth Place: Nilüfer Doğanca (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie, Istanbul, Turkey), “The Abstract Obstacle”
- Honorable mention: Fanni Farkas (Varga), “Prisoner”; Janka Krech (Varga), “A Different Angle”; Léda Karmazin (Varga), “There Must Be”; Ella Reynolds (Pinelands High School, Cape Town, South Africa), “The Room with No Soul”; Márk Kovács (Varga), “The Bird”
- Also to be published: Julia Czajka (3 Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Agnieszki Osieckiej w Sopocie), “I Only Swim in the Dark in My Room”; Léna Varga (Varga), “That Will Be My Freedom”; Donát Balogh (Varga), “The Story of a Bird”; Márk Gál (Varga), “Freedom Balanced with Rules”
Theme 2: Mistakes
We dread making mistakes, but sometimes they are the most important things that happen to us. Write an essay, story, poem, dialogue, letter, or other work in which a mistake plays a key role.
- First Place: Luca Türk (Árpád Vezér Gimnázium, Sárospatak, Hungary), “My Diary”
- Second Place: Dominik Nemcsok (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok, Hungary), “Mistakes”
- Third Place: Mira Melinda Csépe (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok, Hungary), “I Miss You”
- Fourth Place: Ivett Csenge Csehi (Árpád Vezér Gimnázium, Sárospatak, Hungary), “Everybody Makes Mistakes”
- Honorable mention: Márk Gál (Varga), “Why Are Mistakes Important?”; Áron Kaposvári (Varga), “Mistakes – Good or Bad”; Ceren Selimata (Lycée Sainte Pulchérie), “Not Hating Them, Just Thriving By Them”; Dániel Darabos (Árpád Vezér Gimnázium), “A Fatal Error”
Folyosó’s Third International Contest, Autumn 2022
In 2022 there were two contest themes: connections between the arts, and social criticism. Congratulations to the winners!
Theme 1: Write a piece that in some way connects two or more of the arts (including dance, music, literature, fine arts, theatre, film, and more).
- First Place: Zsófia Szabina Gávris, The Peak of Intelligence (with credit to Eszter Klára Szabó for technical assistance)
- Second Place: Lilla Kassai, Can You Draw Faster, Picasso?
- Third Place: Helka Ondok, Being a Dancer; and Petra Varga, Versatile Art
- Honorable Mention: Adél Mihályi, An (Un)helpful Guide for Creating the Perfect K-pop Group; Eszter Aletta Hevesi, Artistic Travel; and Selin Rana Özkarahan, Death on Two Legs: The Wave That Crushed and Rebuilt Visions
Theme 2: Write a piece of social criticism: explaining what is wrong, misguided, or distorted about a tendency in society.
- First Place: Fatma Irmak Tuncel, The Gray
- Second Place: Ezgi Yılmaztekin, Just a Normal Woman’s Life; and Áron Antal, Old Acquaintance
- Third Place: Ela Kazandağ, Second Chance
- Honorable Mention: Eszter Klára Szabó, Performative Activism
Many thanks to Judit Kassainé Mrena and Anikó Bánhegyesi, who helped judge the second category (Diana Senechal judged the first category on her own).
Of the winners and contributors, the following six attend the Lycée Sainte Pulchérie in Istanbul: Selin Rana Özkarahan, Fatma Irmak Tuncel, Ezgi Yılmaztekin, Ela Kazandağ, Joshua Robles, and Kaya Tunçer. The others attend the Varga Katalin Gimnázium in Szolnok, Hungary.
Folyosó’s Second International Contest, Autumn 2021
Life is full of contradictions, but how well can you express this through a story, poem, dialogue, essay, or other written form?
Congratulations to the winners of Folyosó’s second international contest! The jury (Anikó Bánhegyesi, Marianna Jeneiné Fekete, and Diana Senechal) were moved by the quality and intensity of the submissions. Thanks to all for your participation! All finalists will be published in the Autumn 2021 issue of Folyosó.
- First Place: Roza Kaplan*, “Raindrops in the Darkness”; Kitti Lili Tupi, “The Girl in the Window”; Sarin Nevruz*, “The Illusion Game of the Mind”
- Second Place: Zsófia Szabina Gávris, “From Contradicting to Acting”; Dorottya Turza, “Not What I Thought It Was”; Adél Mihályi, “Coordinates”
- Third Place: Aurelia Wiggins**, “On the World”; Başak Ünal*, “A Strangely Usual Day of Mr. Steve”; Ceylin Kıran*, “The Song of Being”
- Honorable Mention: Ecem Göksenin Aday*, “The Reflection”; Eszter Aletta Hevesi, “Do We Really Need Time?”; Sára Eszter Radó, “The Extinct Fire”
*Lycée Sainte-Pulchérie, Istanbul, Turkey
**Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science & Engineering, New York, NY, USA
Everyone else: Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok, Hungary
Folyosó’s First International Contest, Winter 2020-2021
Congratulations to the winners of Folyosó’s first international contest! The jury (Judit Kéri, Anikó Bánhegyesi, Edit Göröcs, Nándor Szűcs, and Diana Senechal) had a difficult time deciding, since we enjoyed and admired the pieces so much. The winners are:
- Grand Prize: Bernadett Sági (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), Virtual or Reality
- First Place: Deniz Pala (Lycée Sainte-Pulchérie, Istanbul), Stronger Links
- Second Place: Gergely Sülye (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), In an Arm’s Reach, and Kázmér Kaposvári (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), Salvation or the End
- Third Place: Defne Lal Koçer (Lycée Sainte-Pulchérie, Istanbul), Life Consists of Choices, and Lilla Kassai (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), Bringing Dragons to Life
- Honorable Mention: Lili Forgács (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), The Language-Capsule; Ahmet Yavuz Kaya (Lycée Sainte-Pulchérie, Istanbul), Muter3000; Eszter Aletta Hevesi (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), The Portal; and Alexandra Klaudia Süveges (Varga Katalin Gimnázium, Szolnok), Camping with a Little Bit of Magic.
Congratulations to all! All of the pieces will be published in Folyosó on Monday, February 15 and their authors will receive certificates within the next two weeks.
Contest Description: Imagine a new invention that, as far as you know, does not already exist. Describe it in an essay, story, poem, letter, dialogue, or other form of writing. The invention may be serious or silly, practical or whimsical, plausible or absurd (or any combination of these qualities). You may accompany it with drawings if you wish, but this is not required. Your piece should explain how the invention came into existence, how it works, and what purpose it serves (or could serve) in a fictional world. It should be entirely imaginary; if you have any actual inventions, don’t include them in this contest. Instead, develop them and apply for a patent!
Past Contests
Congratulations to the winners of Folyosó’s Autumn 2020 Contest! Thanks to Judit Kéri, Marianna Jeneiné Fekete, Judit Kassainé Mrena, and Anikó Bánhegyesi, who, along with editor-in-chief Diana Senechal, read the finalist entries and selected the winners. All winning pieces, including honorable mentions, will be published in the Autumn 2020 issue of Folyosó. We are happy that the choice was so difficult, that there were so many interesting pieces to read! To see the contest description, please scroll down.
First Place: Adél Mihályi
Second Place: Gergely Sülye, Erika Mária Szántó, Attila Marcell Kiss (each individually)
Third Place: Zsófia Szabina Gávris
Honorable Mention: Dániel Lipcsei, Heléna Laura Spinou, Gréta Tóth
Autumn 2020 Contest: How do we determine what is important in life? What makes us change our mind about our priorities? Are priorities just a matter of personal preference, or do they have universal value? Whom do we affect with our decisions about what is and isn’t important? Who influences these decisions, and how?
Write about any of these questions (or related questions) in a form of your choice, such as a poem, play, essay, dialogue, letter, or story. It can be serious or silly, analytical or playful, a combination of these, or something else entirely. Mail the submission as a Word attachment to diana.senechal at vargaszolnok.hu. Please put the word “Contest” in the subject header. For this contest only, we will consider pieces in Hungarian as well as in English. The deadline is September 30, 2020.
Hogyan határozzuk meg, hogy mi a fontos az életben? Mi késztet bennünket arra, hogy megváltoztassuk dolgaink fontossági sorrendjét? A prioritás csak egyéni vonzódás, értékrend kérdése, vagy hordozza az általánoshoz igazodást is? Kikre és milyen hatással van az, hogy mit tartunk fontosnak és mit nem? Kik és hogyan befolyásolják az értékrendünket?
Ehhez vagy ehhez kapcsolódó témában várunk bármilyen műfajú (vers, dráma, tanulmány, levél, dialódus, novella). A mű hangvétele lehet komoly vagy könnyed, elemző vagy játékos stb., illetve ezek kombinációja.
Az angol vagy magyar nyelven írt pályaművet kérjük Word-dokumentumban Diana Senechal számára kérjük elküldeni: diana.senechal@vargaszolnok.hu. Az email tárgyaként tüntessék fel: Contest. A beküldési határidő: 2020. szeptember 30.